Lucy is a teen fighting to survive. Her mother is abusive and her father is almost never around. She was bullied at school and although everyone knew, no one seemed to care. Will Lucy hang on, or just give up? This story is about teens finding their voice and speaking their minds, and learning that anything that's hurting you should never be kept in silence. Warning:strong language

Guest: Thank you for your suggestions, but where I come from, young adult is a teen book. What you described there sounds more like a mature adults book. I want to keep it just a little more PG-13, but I appreciate you sharing your thoughts(:

Rainlesshope: Hahaha, so would I, but he won't be single for long(;

KirbyMasta2000: I am so sorry that you had to through that! I hope everything is alright now(: And thank you! I tried to get as much feeling as I could in there, cause I've actually … tried before but anyways, yeah(: I'm so glad you like it!

Lucy

Monday was going to be really, really different. I wondered if Keith and I were actually dating. I mean, sure last night was amazing and really I had no doubt in my mind that we were dating, but now, after thinking everything over... I was having a hard time believing it. We hadn't made it official, and actually after awhile, I just stopped thinking and starting dwelling on last night's magic.

I swear, Kiss Me would not stop playing my head. I kept seeing Keith's eyes, then the feel of his lips and I would press my fingertips to my lips, making me sad that it wasn't a reality. I was thinking about him, so much and I remembered excitedly, that I had his number. Yet, then I thought, should I be the one to text him first? Is the girl or guy supposed to text first? I was very new to this, so I didn't know. But I was aching to talk to him again.

Then I heard a faint tapping sound, and stood up from my bean bag. I stood still for a moment, listening. The tapping sounds continued. I was curious, but a little scared at the same time. I walked around my room, slowly, still listening intently for the source of the tapping. I came across one window, and the sound intensified. I turned towards the window, pausing, and then peeked through the blinds.

The sight, brought tears. I laughed so hard, that I had to lean onto the window sill for support. I raised the blinds, and unlatched the window locks. I took a bit of effort, but I managed to pry window up enough for me to poke my head through. Resting on my knees, I leaned forward, "What are you doing?"

Keith smiled, "Trying to get your attention! I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier." I shook my head, but I was smiling brightly. "You're insane." He grinned, "I know." We kinda just took a moment to look at each other. Keith was watching me with intent, and I couldn't help but wonder what he was thinking about.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked. Wind swept through, throwing my hair in front of my face. I ran my hand through it to throw it back behind my head. Keith was smiling sadly, "I'm trying to see if I have the courage to ask you what I want to ask you." My heart beat raced. Several moments passed, my tummy churning and him looking like he was thinking very hard. He abruptly looked up, with a huge smile. Keith's green eyes were glinting with mischievousness and I was instantly nervous.

"Get dressed. Meet me outside in 20." And then he was gone.

Keith

Talking from windows may sound cliché, but it was the best I could do at that moment. I didn't want to ask her over the phone, that was just tacky.

The Fall Formal was next weekend, and I wanted Lucy to go with me. But I just didn't know how I wanted to say it. I was afraid that she would be afraid. I consulted Megan, D and Nathan but they barely helped. Megan said that I should do it in some kind of cheesy, classic, romantic way. Dylan said that I should just come out and say it and Nathan just said to ask her after we went out somewhere.

I was pretty sure that Megan and Nathan's idea was probably the best. I mean, Lucy seemed to really like the romantic stuff. And to be honest, I kind of did too.

So 20 minutes later after talking to that gorgeous girl, I was leaning against the tree in her yard, waiting. I knew she would meet me, but maybe I should've waited longer to see her reaction. It was a Saturday, after all. Maybe she wanted to sleep.

A door slammed, bringing me back to reality. Lucy was walking towards me, in a blue t-shirt and blue jeans. Her hair was a brown mess on her head, but it was messy in a way that made her look irresistible. And I loved it. I pushed myself off the tree, and walked towards her, meeting her halfway.

I grinned, "Ready?" Lucy smiled, "Ready." We walked with our hands intertwined and that made me think about our status. Were we dating? I wanted us to be, and I thought we were, but neither of us had stated it or made it official.

"So," Lucy snapped me out of my thinking. "Where are we going?" I smiled, "I want you to meet a few people." I expected her to stop walking, to look like she wanted to do anything but that, but instead, she smiled wider. "Cool! Who are they?" I was very impressed, and more shocked than ever by her willingness. "Nathan and Dylan. I've known Dylan ever since I was little, and Nathan since I was about 11 or so. We've been buds ever since. I was actually a little surprised that you hadn't met them yet, but I guess that's my fault." She swatted my shoulder playfully, "It's not your fault! Besides, I was going through a rough time. I didn't want them to meet me like that. The last thing I need is for someone else to feel sorry for me. But anyways, I'm so excited to meet them! I mean, you've met all my friends," She looked at me. "But I haven't seen you with your friends, nor have I met them."

I smirked, "Trust me, you haven't missed out on much. Their just normal people. You'll get a awesome chance tonight; their coming over to my house tonight because I just got this new video game and we vowed to play it together." Lucy laughed. "And, I kinda told them that you and Megan would be there." I added, softer.

She just kept on smiling. I wondered of her face hurt. "Well, I wish you would've told me sooner! This is awesome! I finally get to meet your mysterious friends. And on top of that, play video games. This weekend just keeps getting better and better!" I laughed, really shocked out how supportive and optimistic Lucy was acting. It made me wonder if she actually was acting.

"Lucy, are you sure you're okay with all of this?" I asked, I stopped walking so I could look at her head on. Lucy's eyes were sparkling with laughter and excitement.

"Keith," She held my face with her hands. "I mean it! This is great; I'm really excited to meet Dylan and Nathan. And I'm also really excited to play video games later tonight. I'll be with you the whole time, and that's the best thing ever. I mean it." I believed her, I did. And her face was so close to mine.

I stroked her cheek, and gave her a peck on the lips, although every fiber of my being wanted to kiss her longer. "Alright, if you say so." I grabbed her hand and we started walking towards the Barnyard again.

Dylan and Nathan met us outside. Both of them looked at Lucy, our hands, and then me. D grinned, "So you must be that famous Lucy that we've been hearing about so often!" Instead of shaking her hand, or doing something else that might've been awkward, he pulled her into a full on hug. Lucy laughed, hugging Dylan back. Then she hugged Nathan, and we went inside. "What do you guys want?" Nathan asked, but looking at Lucy. She smiled, "Root beer." Nat looked at me, a wild look on his face, then it slowly spread into a wide grin. "Dude, I love this chick!" And he left to get our four root beers.

We sat at a booth; Lucy scooted in first, me behind her, and D sat across from us. He looked at me, smiling. "So I guess you got guts to ask her out, eh?" I laughed, squeezing Lucy's hand. "I did," I looked at her, and she was looking at me. "And it was great. Oh and by the way, Lucy and Megan are playing video games with us tonight." I saw D's face get red, and Lucy laughed.

"You're joking! You like Megan?" D opened and closed his lips like a fish. He looked sheepish. "Yeah." Lucy sat back, "Oh my god. I can't believe this." Then she started laughing harder. I was smiling and Dylan's face was flushed. "What's so funny?" He said, a little harshly. She barely stopped laughing enough to answer, "Because, she told me about this Dylan guy that she had a complete crush on! Wait, what's your last name?" D glanced at me, and I shrugged. "Daniels." Lucy smiled, "So you're the mysterious Dylan. Wow."

He waved his hands, "Wait a minute. Megan talks about me? She likes me?" Lucy nodded then turned to me, "We have to." I knew what she was talking about, "But, that's meddling." She raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding?! Megan, Grace, Riley, and Amber set us up! They like each other, I see no reason why not to." D was wringing his hands, listening to our conversation. I turned to him, "You okay with that man?" Dylan smiled, "Definitely." Lucy did a fist pump, and all three of us laughed.

Nathan came back with our drinks, "Sorry guys, long line." Everyone took a sip, then Nathan grinned. "How about a contest? First one who chugs their drink the fastest wins." He looked at Lucy, and I was glad that her opinion mattered to him. She grinned, "I'm in." I looked at her incredulously. I hope she knew what she was getting into.

Dylan nodded and we all picked up our drinks. "Alright," Nathan said. "One... Two... Three!" Everyone tilted their drinks back, gulping fast. After a few seconds, I heard the bang of glass on the table. "Done!" A female voice rang out. I finished my root beer, and burped. I turned to Lucy, who was smiling triumphantly, "No way!" Dylan exclaimed. Nathan was laughing. "KJ, that girl is a winner." Lucy blushed, but she was beaming with pride.

I laughed. This girl was more incredible than I had realized. Dylan laughed, "Welcome, to the club Lucy." And we all sat, talked, and laughed for hours.

Lucy

I really liked Nathan and Dylan. They were fun, nice, and they both we're like flipped Keith's. I found them extremely comfortable to be with and I realized why girls prefer guy friends instead of girlfriends. Not that I would chose them over Megan and the rest of my girls; just that I didn't have to worry about what I wore, said or did around these guys. I felt like I was a guy with them, so none of the beauty or gossip really mattered.

I was so happy that Keith had agreed to us getting Dylan and Megan together. I was really excited about it. And she deserves to be with someone she likes after doing all she's done for me. Megan deserves more than I could give her.

So it was about 7pm, and we were walking to Keith's house with ice cream in our hands. Yes, it was freezing outside, but I couldn't resist it. We'd been out all day; after we left the Barnyard at about noon, we spend the rest of the day mostly at the mall. We didn't buy anything except for some cheap stuff. Keith and I got our names on necklaces. But Keith put the one with his name on it on my neck instead. So, I had his name on my heart, and he had mine. It was really sweet.

I had gotten used to calling Dylan 'D', like Keith did, and calling Nathan 'Nat'. They didn't mind one bit. And they called me Lulu. Basically, by the end of the night we were all best friends.

I was holding Keith's hand with one of my hands, and the other was holding my strawberry ice-cream. We looked at each other, and smiled. This day had been amazing. Dylan looked at us and sighed, "Having a girl sounds nice." Keith laughed, and so did I. "It is." Keith agreed, winking at me. Nat just laughed, hands in his pockets. He'd finished his ice cream long ago, and I found that he was the quiet one in the group. Well, mostly.

We were finally home, and I wanted to go get Megan and bring her over later. "We'll only be a few minutes." I said to Keith. He nodded, and the guys went inside. I jogged to Megan's door; finishing off my ice cream and tossing the the left over cone in her garbage bin. Megan's mom answered the door, and she smiled at me. "You must be Lucy." She shook my hand, and I smiled. I forgot that I'd never met Megan's parents before. "I'm looking for Megan." I said, and she let me in.

"Her room is upstairs, second door on the right." She smiled at me, and I smiled back. "Thank you!" I called, climbing up the stairs.

Their house reminded me of some famous elegant, ballet dancer. It was weird, being in a place to put together and just maybe a bit plain. The walls were a gray, bordering on silver, and the carpet was so white, that I had taken off my shoes to keep from staining it. It must've taken years for it to get like this. I followed Megan's moms' instructions, and came to a large, closed wooden door. I knocked on it softly, "Megan?" I called. There was no reply, but then I thought how impossible if would be to hear anyone through such a thick door. "Megan!" I called louder and braving it by knocking louder too. The door swung open and a pair of hands dragged me in.

I was plopped on a pink bed, covered in clothes. "So, how was it! You have to tell me all about it!" Megan sat next to me and I grinned. I repeated our whole date from when I left my room, to coming home and counting to three. "Oh, that's so cute!" She had squealed when I finished. I smirked, "Oh and guess who I met today?" Megan raised an eyebrow, "Who?" I started laughing. "Dylan Daniels. Other wise known as Keith's best friend, 'D'." Megan hit my shoulder, "Lucy! Are you serious! You didn't say anything, did you?" I wrung my hands. "Well..."

"Lucy!" I jumped at her harsh tone. I hadn't thought what Megan would have felt if she had found out I told Dylan about her liking him. She winced and hugged me though, "I'm sorry, I didn't meant to yell like that." I shrugged, but I couldn't help the memories. They were all just too fresh.

The memories of my mom, my life before this one. My old life that was only a few streets away from here. The life that I tried to kill myself to get away from. Tears welled up in my eyes, but I tried to get rid of them before Megan saw. "Oh gosh, Lucy, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it." I shook my head. "It's not your fault. Just stupid memories." But they weren't stupid. They were unfortunately real.

"Anyways," I wiped my eyes, trying to get back to the new life that I was living. "I told Dylan about you but only because he likes you too." Megan smiled, "Really? He said that?" I nodded, and her delighted shriek cleared all bad thoughts from my brain. "Get dressed! They want to play video games with us. I came to get you." I didn't plan on telling her about my setting her up with Dylan. Besides, she would probably do it on her own. Megan hugged me, "Thank you so much." I hugged her back tighter, "It's my pleasure, Megan. It really is."

Keith

"You guys suck at this game!" I had yelled when Lucy and Megan walked in. I paused the game, smiling at her. "Hey girls. Take a seat." They sat and we all laid around and talked and laughed for a bit. I ended up sitting next to Lucy, with my head in her lap like on our date yesterday. She was messing with my hair, and I just let her because it felt good. Megan and D sat next to each other and Nathan looked completely happy with just having a bag of chips to keep him company. He played the game solo while we talked.

I looked up at Lucy, and she looked down at me. I liked that way my name was on her heart, like hers was on mine. I think we made it official that we were dating.

"So," Megan smiled, "Are you two dating now or what?" Lucy smiled, and looked down at me. I smiled at her, and turned to look at Megan. "Yes, we are." Megan grinned, smirking at Lucy. "I'm a genius." She said, and put her hands behind her head. We all laughed, including Nathan. I had a strange thought then; we should hook Nat up with someone. Although the only girl that I knew he liked was some girl named Madison.

I was getting bored, so I sat up, and picked up a controller and tossed another one to Lucy. "Wanna play?" She nodded, and we joined in with Nat. I'd have to say that she had awesome video game skills, even though I could guess that she's never played before. Maybe she was born a gamer.

Soon we were all playing. Then we switched the game from Halo 3 to Mario Cart.

Lucy tilted her controller a little bit too far to the right and got caught in grass. "Oh crap." She muttered. I laughed, using one hand to steer my controller and the other to help her. "There you go, now just keep straight." I saw her blush, and laughed softly. She was just too cute.

Megan was getting a little bit too comfy with Dylan already. Their legs were intertwined and it seemed like every part of their bodies were touching. But, they were laughing and having a good time with each other so I ignored it. Besides, they probably look like Lucy and I. I felt really bad for Nathan though. He was sitting in a loveseat all by himself, and and was saddening really. I found myself wishing I had invited someone over for him to be with.

It was about midnight when the girls had to go home. Dylan walked Megan home, of course, and I knew he wouldn't come back for awhile, and Nat said he had to go call someone so I had the chance to walk Lucy home. I would've felt bad leaving Nat there all alone but it gave us all a chance to be with our girls so I guess it wasn't that bad.

Anyways, I walking Lucy to her door, wrapping her in my arms because it was a little cold outside and Lucy hadn't bothered to bring a jacket because it was warm during the day.

"I had a great time Keith," She said when we reached her doorstep. "Meeting your friends was awesome." I smiled, "Getting to spend time with you was the best part." She blushed but smiled, "That was my favorite part too."

I held both of Lucy's hands and looked into her beautiful blue eyes, "Lucy, can I ask you something?" She nodded, and I took a deep breath. "Will you go to the Fall Formal with me?" She cocked her head, but hugged me and kissed me all the same. It left me a bit stunned.

"Of course! What girlfriend would I be if I said no?" I laughed, kissing her forehead. We said goodbye, and I made her promise to text me until she fell asleep, since her parents went out for the night. "See you." Lucy said, and I smiled. "See you."

A/N Sorry that this chapter was so short! There wasn't much to put in this one, but I did want them to get the whole are-we-in-a-relationship? And -are-we-going-to-the-dance-together? Thing out of the way(: So, I hope you like it, and since chapters are so short I hope to have them up sooner! Ch 16 is underway, my pretties! Mwaaah 33

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.